


To the Point of Invention: A study of the intersection of silk and metalsmithing industries

by drelfina



Series: The Reckoning: Symbol of Subjugation Inspired [11]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Clownfish AU, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other, Social impact of the clownfish jutsu in the future, a historiography of a symbol of subjugation, a symbol of subjugation fanfic, clownfish jutsu, i am very academic sometimes, implied MadaTobira actually, knowledge generation, the implications of marriage on knowledge and industries, the marriage of industries, the transference of knowledge, this takes place several generations later from the end of aSoS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:33:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25370944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drelfina/pseuds/drelfina
Summary: The marriage of Uchiha Tobirama to Uchiha Madara had far-reaching consequences; not just in the building of Konohagakure, and laying the political groundwork for the society and national boundaries that there are today, but in industries that readers today will not even begin to envision as being different before.Peace, and peace made inthismanner, with the marriage between the Senju and Uchiha particularly, has huge lasting social, economical, and industrial impacts on Konoha and the world at large. Today, while those who hold the nameSenjunumber in the single digits, the relationship between the Senju and Uchiha is inevitably intertwined with the history of Konoha, and it is important to examine the relationship ofmarriageand its impact on our industries today, which is the seed for the redefinition ofShinobiin Konoha.
Relationships: Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara
Series: The Reckoning: Symbol of Subjugation Inspired [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1649584
Comments: 34
Kudos: 123





	To the Point of Invention: A study of the intersection of silk and metalsmithing industries

**Author's Note:**

  * For [evocates](https://archiveofourown.org/users/evocates/gifts).
  * Inspired by [a symbol of subjugation](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21368578) by [evocates](https://archiveofourown.org/users/evocates/pseuds/evocates). 
  * Inspired by [a symbol of subjugation](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21368578) by [evocates](https://archiveofourown.org/users/evocates/pseuds/evocates). 



> [Chapter 30](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21368578/chapters/59020720#workskin):
>
>> _"“Don’t tell me,” he said, one brow already arching, “more people asking for permission to join the Uchiha?”_
>> 
>> _“A silk painter, aged twenty-one; an embroiderer, age eighteen; and a weaver, aged sixteen,” Tsurugi nodded. Then he added, unnecessarily, “All of them are Senju women seeking to marry our Uchiha blacksmiths.”_
>> 
>> _The ages were necessary, Madara knew, because they gave an indicator of the level these civilians had reached with regards to their respective skills. Generally, the older the bride, the higher the bride price, because the clan losing the daughter should be compensated not only for the loss of her talent, but also the time they had taken to cultivate said skill."_  
> 

It probably started from when the daughter of the masterweaver Senju Kenshi married Uchiha Kitae, still an apprentice at the time. 

Or at least, those are the first names that spring to mind when perusing the last volume of the Senju Clan's registry. 

Born in XXX year, Senju Shokki married Uchiha Kitae three years after the foundation of Konohagakure, when both were sixteen. 

This was just one of the first waves of marriages between the Senju and the Uchiha; before the birth of Uchiha Hakuun, and marriage of Uchiha Izuna to the Last Senju Clan Head Touka, a significant number of Senju, all women, became wives of the Uchiha. There might be some argument that the taking of Senju-born wives amongst other clans later should also be counted amongst this wave, but the tracing of the history of our current armour technology stems primarily from the Senju-Uchiha marriages, and can be traced specifically to these first few marriages, hence the first wave only considers the Senju-Uchiha. 

With the precedent set by the Uchiha Clan Head taking the prior Senju Clan heir as concubine, such marriages between the Clans - Uchiha men marrying Senju women - started to become fairly common, particularly amongst the civilian branches of the clans. 

Perhaps emboldened by the fact that Uchiha Tobirama encouraged movement out of previously determined social roles, this softening of social strata opened the way for not only civilians to become not just mothers of future shinobi, but also indirectly encouraged the intermingling of industries that had never been seen prior to this specific period. 

It is difficult to imagine how much secrecy had surrounded the Senju silk industry (and related subsidiary industries such as those involved in dying and silk-painting, to name a few) before this time. Prior to Uchiha Tobirama's marriage, the few marriages of Senju out of the clan tended to be of shinobi, and there were none from the generation of Senju Butsuma. This in effect kept the knowledge of Senju silks, highly prized within the Fire Country and specifically at the courts of the Daimyo, strictly within Senju hands and minds. 

This particular marriage, however, marked the beginning of the interweaving of two very critical industries - weaving of silk, and forging of steel. 

It has been well-known just how much in demand weaponry from Uchiha forges were, and there has been much written about the history of Uchiha metalworking (such as linking the trade of Uchiha weaponry with the political relationship with the founding tribe of Sunagakure, how the war between Water's Daimyo and Fire's Daimyo [in XXX year] had resulted in a boom of innovative weaponry, some remnants of which can be found in other Fire Clans' use of certain weapons such as the large shuriken and Giant Kunai that are even now being replicated by the Hagane). During war time, the Uchiha's weapon forging technology and skill were in high demand, but in this specific circumstance, it is not that particular system of knowledge that is of interest. 

In fact, comparatively little has been written about the _jewellery_ aspect of the Uchiha Clan metalworkers, and this is what makes this particular marriage so unique. 

[...] 

Uchiha Kitae came from a line of silver and goldsmiths, but his father had been pressed into working with steel, particularly during the time just before Uchiha Tajima came into power. It was this experience of working with steel, a denser, harder alloy, that he brought with him when he started working with jewellery in his first years of apprenticeship under Uchiha Handa. 

What are the important aspects of weaponry? Hardness, the ability to take and retain a fine, keen edge, and most of all, the lightness and balance. 

Jewellery, such as the hairpins and hairpieces, does consider lightness and balance, but fineness and microscopic attention to detail is key - as is working with other materials to enhance or showcase specific aspects of other objects - such as pearl, jade, or the intensely rare blood rubies. The visuals of any one piece is meant to take into account the whole ensemble, yet must also stand on its own with its own unique balance. The painstakingly fine work of detailing and deburring a piece to water-smooth shine is offset by the fact that gold and silver are worked in their almost pure form - mistakes can be reforged with relatively low heat flames. 

Steel, however, is far more difficult to work at ranges beyond a standard ninjato to kunai - huge odachi are difficult to forge without chakra, which is why these delicate symbols of war are still preserved in shrines today. But the technology and patience required for the forging of tiny steel rings, and then even finer steel threads is a unique combination of silversmith's precision and a bladesmith's care. 

[...]

Senju Shokki was an only child; as such she grew up following her parents into the weaving room and learned many of the techniques of weaving before she could walk. 

Kimono has much to do with _layers_ , as well as the different weaving techniques required for the different seasons. Light and breathable for summer, thicker, heavier weight for winter, and that is not taking into account the different kinds of silk weaves required for various finishings to take specific dyes or paints. 

One of the most important aspects of clothing manufacture is also the idea of balance. Just as much as a weapon has to be balanced in order to be wielded well and effectively, clothing has to be evenly distributed amongst weight bearing points of the body in order to be comfortable. 

In the design of body armour, which is worn for hours, sometimes days, this becomes even _more_ critical.

[...]

Silk is one of the strongest natural fibers for its weight. Besides its tensile strength, it is also one of the fibers, when woven tightly, that is highly resistant to piercing. 

It is this particular knowledge that Senju Shokki brought to her marriage, and the fusion of her knowledge of silk weaving with Uchiha Kitae's technological know-how of the ductility of metal alloys resulted in the beginnings of the armour we have today. 

[...] 

In their eighteenth year, Uchiha Kitae presented as his graduating piece something completely unprecedented. While layered clothing had been used mainly as padding under armour, or as actual armour by those who couldn't afford the leather or metal for proper armour, this master-level piece was not just a combination of layered silk and sheet metal or even chainmail, which would be nothing more than any other armourer could have done with enough patience and time. 

Instead, for this piece, the metal work was so fine as to be merely twice as thick as silk thread, and woven almost as fine as if knitted on large gauge needles. The resultant fabric was also made in such a way as to be able to make a vest, lighter than traditional armour plates, and far more flexible and breathable, with allowances that would allow for simple stitching at seams to make straps. [See figure 3.] 

That was not the sole accomplishment of Uchiha Kitae. 

After achieving his mastership, he continued to work with his wife, and on their third anniversary, he presented his wife with a light, fine, translucent piece that was almost exactly half fine stainless steel wire and half silk in weight - the appearance was that of a fishing net, but the silk between the wire 'frames' was so fine as to be transparent, was exceedingly light and breathable, and could be worn for days under every day wear without affecting the overall drape. It would serve as under-armour that resists all but the worst explosive jutsu. 

This, he was recorded as saying, was his bride gift he had made with his own hands, for his bride, in the tradition of Uchiha Madara for his wife[1]. 

[...] 

In the tradition of bride gifts, Uchiha Kitae's bride gift for his wife is significant because of the very fact that they were not shinobi. Shinobi's gear and traditions had long infused into even the civilian branches (see Yamanaka, XXXX) since uncountable years before the Founding. The significance, here, is instead that the bride gift was not only a shinobi-style gift, but it was something that could only have been made by an Uchiha smith, and specifically one who had worked with a Senju spouse. 

While rudimentary, this piece was a combination of both Senju and Uchiha technologies, and specifically civilian made. As both spouses were civilian, they could not work chakra into the material like it would be done in subsequent iterations (and in subsequent waves of Uchiha-Senju marriages), yet it represented firstly the desire of civilian branch members to keep each other safe from military dangers that shinobi were exposed to, and secondly, the high and educated awareness of shinobi dangers that even civilians could be subject to. As civilians, neither spouse would have been given the protective Seal. 

Even though the civilian branches of these clans at the time acted as support for more well-known shinobi branches, this piece represented the start of the redefinition of _Shinobi_. While it was made official in Yondaime Hatake Sakumo's reign, _shinobi_ as it was known then had already started to change, and it started with Senju wives. 

END.

* * *

Footnotes: 

[1] Uchiha Madara's bride gift was made X years after Uchiha Tobirama became his concubine, and presented to Tobirama on the day he officially became his wife. It was the first and most famous example of bride gifts. The rough, almost amatuer work of the metal is evidence that Uchiha Madara made these personally, not commissioned, while exhibiting the first visible form of chakra fused with metalwork; the mark of Uchiha Madara's chakra flame would burn in the earrings' centres for as long as he lived. When the Hokage's Wife was cremated according to the Uchiha tradition, the earrings still burned, a symbol of the Hokage's lifelong passion for his Wife. He never married again.

**Author's Note:**

> Senju Kenshi: 絹糸 spun silk/silk thread  
> Senju Shokki: 織機 Loom.  
> Uchiha Kitae: 鍛え Forging. Noun.  
> Uchiha Handa: 半田 Solder. Usually a metal that has a lower melting point used to join two pieces of metal together. Pewter for low value pieces like copper etc, silver for fine metal applications.
> 
> "When I met Ana, I knew: I loved her to the point of invention." -- Sarah Ruhl, _The Clean House and other plays_ , referencing the surgeon Halsted who pushed for the invention of rubber gloves for his future wife who was allergic to the then-antiseptic they used in surgical theatres.
> 
> And no, I didn't actually do any research for ANY of this other than somehow pulling out all the random miscellaneous knowledge I actually _had_ from my _brain_ and then instead of writing an academic article on my thesis I wrote an academic article on the historical implications of events from _A Symbol of Subjugation_. 
> 
> This was not inspired by any one chapter, but instead by [等你戎装 (Waiting for you to dress for battle)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22251670), which was in turn somewhat inspired by aSoS anyway lol. Basically as soon as I looked at the _idea_ of armour, the fact that the Uchiha and Senju would ally together to form the Village, wouldn't their technologies mesh? And then after a few videos about the modern armour/military vests (those pouches in the shinobi vests actually in modern military vests tend to hold laminated ceramic/armour plates over vital organs, rather than scrolls) and my remembered information about the properties of silk, I came up with _Waiting for you to dress for battle_. And then this piece, I wanted to interweave the idea of _marriage_ , which isn't so much about love (it might be, it doesn't have to be) because with marriage comes the meshing of technologies and industries. 
> 
> aSoS had been very clear about the importance of jewellery-smithing in the Uchiha ( _"And the pearls— not only would those solve their money issues so thoroughly that the Uchiha wouldn’t fear being poor ever again, but the jewellery-smiths who had been forced into forging weapons could make jewellery again, because pearls when sold inland were more valuable than raw silver and gold." -- Chapter 3_ ) and how its revival in Uchiha would spell nothing but good for the Uchiha. Jewellery-smithing is far more valuable especially in a culture that prizes culture and art over mere _war_. 
> 
> It also interwove aspects of sericulture throughout the Senju, which meant that the two industries would naturally come in close contact once they formed an alliance. Considering the emotional and living conditions of the senju, it is even more likely that Senju women at the time would want to marry out of the horrors of the Senju Clan, especially civilians, who cannot prove prowess and worth in anything battlefield worthy, but only in their civilian industries - ie various aspects of sericulture. I mentioned specifically in this piece that any Senju marrying out before Senju Butsuma's generation was of shinobi: shinobi skills were, while showy, still not the actual money maker for the clan. Instead, the sericulture is. And all aspects of that is actually confidential -- Senju Touka _allowing_ the marriages of civilians _out_ of the clan is actually a huge deal, if you think about it, because that's the lifeblood of the Clan - the technologies of _making_ prized silk products is what keeps the clan going, because you need silk no matter whether there's war or not, while shinobi missions… well. 
> 
> Put these two together: fine metal work that is beyond that of just _chainmaille_ , because I hand-make wire-work jewellery and _damn_ is it hard, and silk which has more purpose than as _clothing_ , and you then finally have an explanation for: the shinobi vests, and the fishnet mesh "armour" that Kishimoto just couldn't be bothered to figure out a proper explanation for. 
> 
> * * *
> 
> This work was written on 28 April 2020. It's not bad, I only had to wait three months to post.


End file.
